My Second Column for the Celeste Tribune as yet unpublished.


On The Home Front: Drugs? In Celeste?

Two weeks ago when I read the Celeste Tribune, I was surprised to read that we had a Drug Problem here in Celeste. I thought: No Way, not here in our friendly little town. I watched all these kids grow up, I refereed T-Ball for them, coached some of them in Soccer and Softball, it just ain't possible. Not that I doubted our Mayor, I just refused to take off my rose colored glasses. I decided in order to calm my own concerns I would go and talk to a few folks.

First on my agenda was Joel Littlefield, the Hunt County Attorney. I figured if anyone would know about a drug problem in the area, the County Attorney and the County DA would be the ones. Let me share a few quotes from Mr. Littlefield with you.

Question One: Is there a Countywide increase in Drug usage here in Hunt County?

JL: There is a significant problem that will not go away unless we -- the courts, law enforcement and private citizens address it. To include prison time when called for or rehabilitation when appropriate. Rehab should be the first step, but third and fourth time offenders need to go to jail or prison. If they choose to commit a criminal act to support their drug habit, then they need to go to jail.

Question Two: Is there a meth problem in Hunt County?

JL: Yes, we have a meth problem but not just in our county but in all of North Texas. It's a problem not just in the urban counties but our rural counties as well. It cuts across all socioeconomic Lines.

Question Three: What should we (private citizens) do to help law enforcement?

JL: Report suspicious activities such as increases in traffic at specific houses, short term visits, chemical odors - a real strong ammonia smell. Anhydrous Ammonia stolen from your tanks. This chemical is used to cook meth. People suddenly losing a lot of weight and their personality changing, bags under their eyes, face breaking out, really paranoid. Talking abnormally fast.

Mr. Littlefield estimated that the majority of the cases he filed directly, related to Drug and Alcohol abuse. Right now he has about 2000 misdemeanor cases and he is seeing more meth cases than any other drug cases. Now I should remind you, Mr Littlefield is the County Attorney not the County District Attorney. He does not handle Felony cases.

With these surprising, and frankly slightly shocking, answers I decided that I needed to have a talk with Celeste Chief of Police Clint Mott. I asked Chief Mott some of the same Questions.

Question One: Do we have a drug problem in Celeste?

CM: Yes, everyone has one all across America.

Question Two: What type of drugs are you seeing around town?

CM: meth and marijuana.

Question Three: What can we do to help you do your job?

CM: Talk to us. If you see something suspicious call us. Report every crime because we can't follow a pattern if we don't know what's happening.

Question Four: Are our crimes rates increasing?

CM: No, we had a lot of vehicle burglaries but the suspect is in jail now for other crimes. The car burglaries were linked to drugs. We need every crime reported.

The consensus of opinion is that we have a drug problem here in our small town. The only way we can eliminate this problem is if we keep an eye out and work with the law enforcement folks. Personally, I think a lot of prayer will also help.

Bill Hocutt

Disagree or Agree feel free to add your own comments.

Please send any feedback to UnkHiram@BHocutt.com